Built-in spacers for liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) devices

ABSTRACT

Liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) cells include a plurality of pixel elements formed between substrates. Spacers are formed on a portion of some of the pixel elements and positioned in the cell gap. The spacers on each of these LCOS cells reflecting different colors are formed in different locations in each cell. The result is that substantially none of the spacers create overlapping dead spots in a composite image. The spacers are further distributed among these pixel elements such that spacers are absent from some pixel elements and such that there is a substantially uniform thickness in the cell gaps. The reduced severity of the dead spots in the composite image as a result of the spacers in different locations, the reduced size and number of the spacers, and the uniformity in the cell gaps provide higher optical image quality.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation application of co-pending U.S.application Ser. No.: 09/956,626 entitled, “BUILT-IN SPACERS FOR LIQUIDCRYSTAL ON SILICON (LCOS) DEVICES” filed on Sep. 19, 2001 now U.S. Pat.No. 6,642,982.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to fabrication of optical devices, andin particular but not exclusively, relates to fabrication and placementof spacers in an optical projection device, such as a device havingliquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) light modulators.

BACKGROUND

LCOS devices, such as LCOS light modulators, are an important componentof an optical projection system. LCOS devices, typically embodied inchips for use as “micro-display screens,” can eventually substitute forcathode ray tubes (CRTs) for a monitor or for a television.

One of the important parameters for a high quality LCOS device is theuniformity of the cell gap (sometimes referred to as the “cell spacing”)in the LCOS device (e.g., the LCOS “cell”). In an LCOS device, the cellgap is the space between the upper and lower substrates of the device,with the liquid crystal material being contained within the cell gap.For liquid crystal displays (LCDs), the upper and lower substrates aretypically made from a glass material. For LCOS devices, the uppersubstrate is made from glass, and the lower substrate is made fromsilicon.

It is common knowledge that a consistency in the thickness and/oruniformity of the liquid crystal material within the cell gap must beachieved in order to obtain a high-quality optical image on the screen.If there is non-uniformity, then colors that should be red may suffer adiscernible color shift, for instance, in the display. Spacers are usedto help achieve this uniformity—the spacers act as a structural supportbetween the upper and lower substrates to keep the cell gap between thesubstrates uniform in thickness.

In the manufacturing of LCDs, the practice is to apply spacers havingsizes of 3-5 microns in width (either through a wet or dry process)within the cell by spraying the spacers onto the lower substrate, beforecoupling on the upper substrate with gasket material to form a hermeticseal. Thereafter, liquid crystal is deposited in the cell gaps formedbetween the spacers and the substrates, via use of vacuum processes.

This spacer manufacturing technique, however, produces unsatisfactoryresults for LCOS devices. This is because while human eyes cannot gaugeactual sizes of the spacers, the spacers sprayed on a small LCOS chipwill be enlarged hundreds of times in the projection image. The spacerscreate “dead spots” in the resulting image. The spacers become soobvious that the resulting image is undesirable, and the LCOS productwill not sell well in the marketplace.

Because the visible spacers in the viewing area degrade from the qualityof the LCOS device, many commercially available LCOS devices arefabricated without spacers (e.g., are “spacerless”). However, thisprocess is not a guarantee for quality or yield—because with larger sizevariations of silicon substrates or with thinner cell gaps, it ismechanically difficult to support constant spacing uniformity whencoupling two large substrates. In fact, this can become a serious issueif yield is significantly reduced due to the higher number of LCOSdevices that will need to be discarded for having poor uniformity.

To alleviate this problem for LCOS devices, techniques using inheritedbuilt-in spacers have been used. Such inherited built-in spacers areformed by etching SiO₂ spacers on the silicon substrate itself. However,while the resulting structure does achieve uniformity of the cell gapand thus uniformity of the image quality, the spacers are too glaringlyobvious as viewers pay more attention and get closer to the image. Inother words, the spacers are relatively large in size and are oftenformed on each and every pixel in many types of LCOS cells, and as aresult, become very visible when the image is magnified. The individualimage generated from each cell is peppered with “dead spots” caused bythe spacers in that cell, and these dead spots become much morepronounced when a composite/combined image is obtained from individualimages from multiple cells, since the dead spots exactlyoverlap/superimpose over each other in the combined image.

Attempts to address this dilemma include fabrication of cells where thespacers are not formed on every pixel—the overall number of spacers isreduced. However, the spacers that are formed are nevertheless formed inthe same pixel location on every cell. Thus, while the overall number ofdead spots that “pepper” the original image may be reduced, the severityof the dead spots from the existing spacers remains unchanged, since thecombined image still exactly superimposes and combines the dead spotsfrom each cell. The overall image quality is therefore stillunacceptable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments of the present invention aredescribed with reference to the following figures, wherein likereference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various viewsunless otherwise specified.

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of an LCOS device havingspacers in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 2-4 are partial top views showing example distributions of spacersfor three different LCOS devices for three different colors inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a top view illustrating an example distribution of spacers ina composite image for the LCOS devices of FIGS. 2-4 in accordance withan embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of an LCOS device havingspacers in accordance with another embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of a method to fabricate and distribute/place spacers inoptical devices are described herein. In the following description,numerous specific details are provided, such as example dimensions ormaterials, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of theinvention. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, thatthe invention can be practiced without one or more of the specificdetails, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In otherinstances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shownor described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment is includedin at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, theappearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” invarious places throughout this specification are not necessarily allreferring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features,structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner inone or more embodiments.

As an overview, an embodiment of the invention provides LCOS devices(e.g., LCOS cells), such as light modulators, having inherited built-inspacers positioned at different pixel locations for each red, green,blue (RGB) color cell. With this embodiment, the spacers in one cellhave locations that are different than the locations of spacers in theother cells. The combined image from the cells will therefore have lesssevere “dead spots” since the dead spots caused by each spacer do notoverlap/combine in the combined image. Moreover, the spacers can have anoptimized spatial distribution separately for R, G, B cellsrespectively, such that spacers are not present on every pixel elementof these cells. Thus, the spacers are less visible, and as result ofthis, high image quality is achieved (e.g., decreased opticaldeficiencies), with high yield in the manufacturing of LCOS devices andlower costs.

The spacers can be made from silicon nitride Si₃N₄ in one embodiment,which is more transparent than oxide in the visible part of the lightspectrum. Moreover, silicon nitride is stronger than oxide, and thus thespacers can be made smaller while still providing comparable supportbetween the substrates for a uniform cell gap.

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a single LCOS device 10having spacers 32 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.That is, the view in FIG. 1 shows a fragment of the LCOS device 10 (asindicated by a break 12 and by breaks at the lateral edges of thedrawing) and shows the relative positions of its various components. Itis to be appreciated that these various components are not necessarilydrawn to exact scale and shape in FIG. 1, and may be exaggerated forpurposes of illustration, as is commonly done when providingillustrations of semiconductor components.

The LCOS device 10 can comprise part of an optical projection device inone embodiment, and may be embodied as a chip integrated with theoptical projection device. In an embodiment, the LCOS device 10 cancomprise an LCOS light modulator, such as an LCOS cell to reflect asingle color, such as R, G, or B (or other color pattern scheme). It isto be appreciated that in other embodiments, the LCOS device 10 may beused in connection with other types of optical devices. These opticaldevices can include, but not be limited to, rear and front-endprojectors, virtual near-to-eye LCOS applications/products, and so on.

The LCOS device 10 includes a first substrate 14 and a second substrate18. The first substrate 14 can be made from silicon in one embodiment,while the second substrate 18 can be made from a suitably transparentmaterial, such as glass or plastic. A metal interconnections layer 16may be formed over the first substrate 14 to provide electroniccircuitry and electronic control for the various components between thesubstrates 14 and 18.

A plurality of pixel elements is formed between the substrates 14 and18. For purposes of illustration in FIG. 1, only three pixel elements20, 22, and 24 are shown, and it is to be appreciated that the LCOSdevice 10 can have many more pixel elements, such as, for example, a640×480 pixel display. As shown in FIG. 1, the pixel elements 20, 22,and 24 are separated.

The pixel elements 20, 22, and 24 each include a micromirror layer 26formed over the first substrate 14 (and over the metal interconnectionslayer 16 contained in oxide layers, developed on top of silicon Si, forinstance). The micromirror layer 26 can be made from aluminum Al in oneembodiment or from some other suitable reflective material. An examplethickness A of the micromirror layer 26 is approximately 1500 Angstromsin one embodiment, and it is to be appreciated that other embodimentsmay have a different thickness A for the micromirror layer 26.

A protective layer 28 (which is simultaneously one of the antireflectivelayers) is formed over the micromirror layer 26 to protect themicromirror layer 26. The protective layer 28 can be made from silicondioxide SiO₂ in one embodiment or from some other suitable material. Anexample thickness B of the protective layer 28 is approximately 750Angstroms in one embodiment, and it is to be appreciated that otherembodiments may have a different thickness B for the protective layer28.

An additional antireflective layer 30 is formed over the protectivelayer 28. The antireflective layer 30 can be made from silicon nitrideSi₃N₄ in one embodiment or from some other suitable material. An examplethickness C of the antireflective layer 30 is approximately 750Angstroms in one embodiment, and it is to be appreciated that otherembodiments may have a different thickness C for the antireflectivelayer 30.

A plurality of spacers 32 is formed on a portion of some of the pixelelements, and positioned in cell gaps between these pixel elements andthe second substrate 18. That is, the spacers 32 are positioned in thecell gaps (defined by a thickness D between the antireflective layer 30and the second substrate 18) of some of the pixel elements of the LCOSdevice 10, such as the pixel elements 20 and 22 in FIG. 1.

The plurality of spacers 32 is distributed among these pixel elements ina manner that spacers 32 are absent from other pixel elements (such asthe pixel element 24) and in a manner that provides a substantiallyuniform thickness D of the cell gaps. The substantially uniformthickness D of the cell gaps results in a substantially uniformthickness (and consistency) of liquid crystal material 33 contained inthe cell gaps.

In an embodiment, the spacers 32 comprise “pillars” positioned on theircorresponding pixel elements. The pillars can have an example height Dof approximately 1.8 microns in one embodiment. These pillars can have awidth E of approximately 3 microns (for a cross section of approximately3×3 microns²) in one embodiment, and it is to be appreciated that thewidth E can vary between 1 and 3 microns according to various otherembodiments. Because the pixel elements 20 and 24 can have a crosssection of 14×14 microns in one embodiment, the spacers 32 have adimensional width that is substantially smaller than the dimensionalwidth of these pixel elements. This significant difference in crosssection dimensions makes the spacers 32 less visible (and so betterimage quality is achieved).

The spacers 32 can be made from silicon nitride Si₃N₄ in one embodiment,and hence can be formed with the same material as the antireflectivelayer 30. Silicon nitride is used instead of silicon dioxide becausesilicon nitride is a stronger material. Therefore, smaller sizes of thesilicon nitride spacers 32 can be achieved, while providing structuralstrength that is comparable to larger silicon dioxide spacers (that areplaced on every pixel element in accordance with existing methods).

In an embodiment, the pixel elements of the single LCOS device 10together comprise pixels capable to reflect a single color, such as red,while other LCOS devices 10 in the same apparatus each reflect otherdifferent colors, such as green and blue. Together, these RGB cellscreate a composite image. It is understood that other color schemes mayimplement an embodiment of the invention. In such embodiments, thespacers 32 can be formed in different locations in each cell fordifferent colors, such that an optimized spatial distribution of spacers32 can be obtained for the RGB cells, while minimizing the number ofspacers 32 formed. Because of the different locations of the spacers 32in each cell, the composite image will not have overlapping dead spotsfrom each cell.

FIGS. 2-4 illustrate this concept in further detail, for an exampleembodiment based on an RGB scheme. That is, FIGS. 2-4 are partial topviews showing example distributions of spacers for three different LCOSdevices for three different colors according to an embodiment of theinvention. FIG. 2 is a top view of a portion (e.g., 9×9 pixels) of anLCOS device 1OR illustrating an example distribution of spacers 32 r(shown as circles) for a cell that reflects red light. FIG. 3 is a topview of a portion of an LCOS device 10G illustrating an exampledistribution of spacers 32 g for a cell that reflects green light. FIG.4 is a top view of a portion of an LCOS device 10B illustrating anexample distribution of spacers 32 b for a cell that reflects bluelight. For simplicity of illustration, only three spacers are shown ineach of the FIGS. 2-4.

The pixels that have spacers 32 formed thereon are shown as shadedsquares. For clarity of illustration, however, the embodiments shown inthese figures have only a single shaded pixel in each group of fourpixels that share a common spacer. Other pixels that generally do nothave spacers formed thereon are shown as un-shaded squares, such as thepixel 34 in FIG. 2. Therefore, the pixels that are shaded can representthe pixel elements 20 or 22 of FIG. 1, while the un-shaded RGB pixels 34can represent the pixel element 24.

For purposes of explanation only in FIGS. 2-4, it is assumed that thespacers 32 have a dimension of approximately 3×3 microns, the pixelshave a dimension of approximately 14×14 microns, and a separation ofapproximately 0.5 microns is present between the pixels. Moreover, it isassumed that the spacers 32 are distributed such that they are separatedfrom each other by approximately 50 microns—although according tovarious embodiments, this separation can vary between 50 and 100microns. For purposes of simplicity of illustration, however, additionalintervening un-shaded pixels 34 (located between spacers 32 and having14-micron widths) are not drawn in FIGS. 2-4 to fully represent the50-micron separation between spacers 32.

As shown in the embodiment of FIGS. 2-4, the spacers 32 need not beformed on every pixel. Rather, the spacers 32 can be distributed amongthe different pixels, such that the approximately 50-micron separationbetween spacers 32 is generally maintained and such that spacers 32 areformed on different locations for cells that reflect different colors.For instance, the spacers 32 r can be formed in a location that isdifferent relative to the location of the spacers 32 g and 32 b, suchthat no two or three spacers overlap in location in the composite image.It is to be appreciated, however, that in some situations, there may beseveral spacers that do overlap, albeit most of the spacers arenon-overlapping.

In the example embodiments of FIGS. 2-4, each individual spacer 32 isformed on corner portions of four pixel elements (or pixels). With thistechnique, the number of total spacers 32 is reduced since there neednot be a 1-to-1 correspondence between an individual spacer 32 and anindividual R, G, or B pixel that is to have that spacer 32 formedthereon (e.g., there is a 1-to-4 correspondence instead). Moreover,placement of the spacers 32 at the corners results in smaller portionsof the spacers 32 that impinge on the active areas of the correspondingRGB pixels, since a portion of the spacers 32 are positioned within the0.5-micron separations between the RGB pixels. That is, for example,only 1.25 microns of the 14-micron wide pixels will be occupied by the3-micron wide spacers 32 (e.g., 3 microns−0.5 microns*0.5=1.25 microns).With less of the spacers 32 impinging on the pixels' active areas, lessof the spacers 32 will be undesirably visible.

Of course, it is to be appreciated that the spacers 32 need not beformed on corner portions of four pixels in some embodiments. Thespacers 32 can be formed on other portions of one pixel, two pixels, orthree pixels. For instance, a single spacer 32′ in FIG. 2 is shown asbeing formed on a lower right corner of a single R pixel. Otherarrangements can be used, such as placement of spacers on every othercorner, on every third corner, and so on, based on factors that caninfluence optimization, such as the size of the spacers 32, the numberof total pixels, the shape of the spacers 32 (circular, square,elliptical, and so on), the size of the chip of the LCOS device 10, thedegree of high quality desired of the image for a particularapplication, and other factors. What is notable, however, is that mostof the spacers 32 will have different locations from one LCOS cell toanother.

FIG. 5 is a top view illustrating an example distribution of spacers 32in a composite image, for the LCOS devices of FIGS. 2-4 in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention. That is, FIG. 5 is intended toconceptually illustrate distribution of spacers when the images from theLCOS devices 10R, 10G, and 10B are combined into a composite image. Forillustrative purposes only to provide a positional reference, theshading to indicate RGB pixels are duplicated in FIG. 5, and it isunderstood that the composite image will actually have combined RGBcolor in these pixel locations. As depicted in FIG. 5, the compositeimage includes all of the “dead spots” from the spacers 32 from each ofthe LCOS devices 10R, 10G, and 10B. However, since the spacers 32 areformed in different locations in each of the LCOS devices 10R, 10G, and10B, the dead spots from these spacers do not combine one on top ofanother in the composite image. This results in a better quality image.

One embodiment of the invention provides a method to manufacture theLCOS device 10. This manufacturing/fabrication method includes formingthe micromirror layer 26 over the first substrate 14 (after the metalinterconnections layer 16 has been formed over the first substrate 14).The micromirror layer 26 may be formed by coating or other suitabledeposition technique. Next, the protective layer 28 is formed over themicromirror layer 26, using techniques known in the art.

Thereafter, portions of the micromirror layer 26 and the antireflectivelayer 28 are selectively removed to obtain a plurality of separatedpixel elements (such as 20, 22, and 24). This selective removal may beperformed via a wet or dry etch or other suitable technique according tovarious embodiments of the invention. The antireflective layer 30 isthen formed over the second antireflective/protective layer 28. In anembodiment, this process step deposits silicon nitride to a thickness ofC+D for both the antireflective layer 30 and for the spacers 32.

Subsequently, portions of the antireflective layer 30 are selectivelyremoved from some of the pixel elements to allow pillars to remain onportions of these pixel elements as distributed spacers 32, whilepillars are absent on other pixel elements. In one embodiment, thisselective removal of portions of the antireflective layer 30 can beperformed via a photolithography process followed by a dry etch (inaccordance with a desired distribution pattern for the spacers 32). Theetching completely removes the Si₃N₄ antireflective layer 30 for pixelelements where no pillars are to be present (such as the pixel element24), leaving only the antireflective layer with the thickness C, whilethe etching leaves some of the extra material as pillars having a heightD for pixel elements where these pillars are to be present (such as thepixel elements 20 and 22).

The second substrate 18 is placed over the spacers 32, with the spacers32 providing cell gaps between the antireflective layer 30 and thesecond substrate 18 with a substantially uniform thickness. Thereafter,the cell gaps can be filled with the liquid crystal material 33 prior toplacement of the second substrate 18 or after placement of the secondsubstrate 18 (such as via vacuum-filling techniques).

The above description of illustrated embodiments of the invention,including what is described in the Abstract, is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed.While specific embodiments of, and examples for, the invention aredescribed herein for illustrative purposes, various equivalentmodifications are possible within the scope of the invention and can bemade without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention.

For instance, the spacer 32′ of FIG. 2 has been described above as beingformed on a single pixel element, rather than being formed on corners ofseveral pixel elements and on the separations/gaps between the pixelelements. It is to be appreciated that several spacers 32′ may be formedin this manner, in the same cell as other spacers 32 or in other cells,so long as the locations of the spacers 32′ from one cell to another aregenerally different.

To further illustrate, FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of aLCOS device 36 having spacers 32′ in accordance with another embodimentof the invention. The portion of the LCOS device 36 can comprise aportion of the LCOS device 10 (having the spacers 32′ plus the spacers32 formed in corners of a group of pixel elements, such as shown in FIG.1), a portion of some other LCOS cell in the same system, or a portionof some other LCOS cell in general. As shown in FIG. 6, the spacers 32′are formed on pixel elements 38 and 42, but not on a pixel element 40,thereby producing a distribution of spacers 32′. The spacers 32′ neednot necessarily be formed over the separations between the adjacentpixel elements (e.g., between the pixel elements 38 and 40).

These modifications can be made to the invention in light of the abovedetailed description. The terms used in the following claims should notbe construed to limit the invention to the specific embodimentsdisclosed in the specification and the claims. Rather, the scope of theinvention is to be determined entirely by the following claims, whichare to be construed in accordance with established doctrines of claiminterpretation.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus, comprising: a plurality of displaydevices, each display device including: a first substrate and a secondsubstrate; a plurality of separate pixel elements formed between thesubstrates, each pixel element having a first antireflective layerformed over a micromirror layer; a plurality of spacers formed on aportion of some of the pixel elements and positioned in cell gapsbetween n these pixel elements and the second substrate, the pluralityof spacers being distributed among these pixel elements in a manner thatspacers are absent from other pixel elements and in a manner thatprovides a substantially uniform thickness of the cell gaps; and liquidcrystal material contained in the cell gaps, the liquid crystal materialseparating the antireflective layers form on each of the other pixelelements from each other, wherein locations of spacers of eachrespective display device are different relative to locations of spacerson other display devices.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein thespacers are made from silicon nitride.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1wherein at least one display device includes spacers formed on cornerportions of a group of pixel elements for that display device.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 1, further comprising a silicon nitride layer formedover the first antireflective layer, and wherein the micromirrorcomprises an aluminum layer and the first antireflective layer comprisesa silicon dioxide layer.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the spacersare formed over at least a portion of the silicon nitride layer.
 6. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein the spacers have a dimensional width thatis substantially smaller than a dimensional width of the pixel elements.7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the pixel elements of the respectivedisplay devices comprise pixels to reflect a different respective color,and wherein the spacers are formed in different locations for pixels ofeach respective display device.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein thedifferent respective colors comprise red, green, and blue.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein some of the spacers are each formed on asingle pixel element.
 10. An optical projection system, comprising: aplurality of display chips, each of the display chips including: asilicon substrate and a glass substrate; a plurality of separated pixelelements formed between the substrates, each pixel element having afirst antireflective layer formed over a micromirror layer; a pluralityof spacers formed on a portion of some of the pixel elements andcovering a portion of the first antireflective layer, the plurality ofspacers positioned in cell gaps between these pixel elements and theglass substrate, the plurality of spacers being distributed among thesepixel elements in a manner that spacers are absent from other pixelelements and in a manner that provides a substantially uniform thicknessof the cell gaps; and liquid crystal material contained in the cellgaps, wherein locations of spacers of each respective display chip aredifferent relative to locations of spacers on other display chips. 11.The system of claim 10 wherein the display chips comprise liquid crystalon silicon (LCOS) light modulators.
 12. The system of claim 10 whereinthe spacers are made from silicon nitride.
 13. The system of claim 10wherein at least one display chip includes spacers formed on cornerportions of a group of pixel elements.
 14. The system of claim 10wherein the spacers have a dimensional width that is substantiallysmaller than a dimensional width of the pixel elements.
 15. The systemof claim 10 wherein the pixel elements of each respective display chipcomprise pixels to reflect a different respective color, and wherein thespacers are formed in different locations for different display chips.16. The system of claim 10 wherein some of the spacers are each formedon a single pixel element.
 17. The system of claim 10 wherein the liquidcrystal material separates the antireflective layers formed on each ofthe other pixel elements from each other.